Rhapsody in August (1991)

Rhapsody in August (1991)

Rhapsody in August (1991) is a film about the atomic bomb, and how it’s affected humanity. It’s not about the politics of dropping the bomb or about World War II. It’s about the threat the bomb poses to us as a species. It’s also about a family that’s composed of three generations spanning three periods of Japan’s history. This is Kurosawa’s first realistic film with a contemporary setting since the 1960s with High and Low. It’s not a particularly convincing depiction of the 1990s, but it’s not a film about the present, but about the shadow of the past with the atomic bomb and in a way Kurosawa’s own past. He was a survivor of World War II who saw his country pass him by and move away from his values and concerns.

Dreams (1990)

Dreams

Dreams (1990) is Akira Kurosawa’s last great film. Kurosawa had completed a masterpiece in Ran that was not only a hit, but also re-established him as a major figure of cinema worldwide. So how does he follow his greatest success in decades? He makes something completely unlike anything he had done before. Even at 80 he was still striving to do new things. This is an anthology film based on Kurosawa’s dreams. These eight short sections range from nightmares, personal fantasies and larger hopes for society. All of them have a fantastical element so not only was this a chance to break away from liner narrative structure, it was also a chance to stretch himself in content.